With horse owners requesting more product information and advice on managing their horses, there’s a great opportunity for you to share your experiences and ideas with hoof-care clients.

Not only can product sales to horse owners help boost your income, selling some products will give you higher quality feet to work with and help build customer loyalty.

Farriers have earned a solid reputation as a source of valuable advice on many types of products. Moving from barn to barn, you see what products are working best for owners and can offer valuable product recommendations.

Income Producers

Data from the 2008 Farrier Business Practices survey indicates that 26% of American Farriers Journal readers sell products to their hoof-care clients. Interestingly enough, data collected at last winter’s International Hoof-Care Summit reveals that 39% of these attendees sell products to clients.

The results from a recent e-mail survey of horseshoers who sell products to clients indicates resale efforts make up an average of 12% of yearly hoof-care income.

The product markup averages 33%. The markup ranged from less than 5% to 100% on a few products for farriers who responded to this survey.

Some 79% of these farriers carry products on their trucks for instant…